Coffee With Zimbowties
If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my tangle of words and wish you happy holidays. Santa came early this year and delivered a piece of wearable art in the form of a bow tie from ZimBowties..
It was fortunate that the delivery arrived just as I was getting home from a function although it would have been so much better had I got it before then and I would have definitely worn it to an embassy function marking the honorary reporter programme… In case you missed the memo, I sometimes clean-up and adult on international relations.
The last time I suited up, was to attend celebrations for the National Day of Korea hosted by the Korean Embassy in Zimbabwe. The dress code was business formal and I considered looking like James Bond: license to kill or maybe the dapper villain in a Korean series I’d just finished watching in the series Strong Girl Nam-soon.
I was pleasantly surprised when Kim White, product designer by day, bow tie salesman by night reached out and said I looked like someone who could rock some one-of-a-kind wearable art from ZimBowties… (well not in those exact words 😂) Long story short… its here.
If you were having coffee with me I would have to confess that my interactions with bowtie has mostly been of the pre-tied sort… So of course first thing first… would have to learn how to tie one. Hey Google: teach me how to tie a bow. 😂
The instructions seem simple, till they arent, but I eventually figured it out…. Behold attempt number… lost count, but this looks about the way wearable art should look like right?
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that Zimbowties are handmade by artisans who upcycle fabric offcuts in Mutare, a small city in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and are shipped all over… They are worn in more than 25 countries around the world…
In their words, they don’t sell bow ties, they sell art… and maybe even dreams as supporting them helps support their artisans and pays forward to the community.
Christmas is just a few days away and I am here thinking hmmm, it doesn’t quite feel like the festive season just yet… This year seems like Harare did not experience the pomp and fanfare of switching on the Christmas lights and carols by candlelight or maybe I am just growing older.
Its usually a big to do with the Mayor giving a speech and throwing the switch… but then considering Harare is on its fourth mayor since the elections in August… they have a lot on their hands and if the Christmas tree in Africa Unity Square is anything to go by not much in the way of cheer…
I don’t know if that counts as recycling or upscaling but the aesthetic gives a derelict sort of vibe, sorry I am late, at least I am here… And if we are celebrating intent, well remember all those taxes that were proposed… well, the government in its great benevolence has decided to revise some of the figures:
•Mansion Tax threshold increased from $100 000 to US$250 000 and dropped the age exemption to 65 and nobody to pay more than $50 000 a year in tax.
•The proposed passport fees has been reduced from US$200 to $150…. (still a $30 increase) the justification of the cost is so we can have unmanned border posts just like in Dubai by the end of next year… I have so many questions, but hey tis season the season to be jolly. 🎄
Apparently there was a typo in the sugar levy announcement, its not 2 cents per gram as initially published but 0.2 cents per gram of sugar in sweetened beverages…
If you are coffee with me, I would tell you about how it sometimes feels like the government solves problems by creating new problems and solving those ones than actually addressing the initial problems. Anyway they are ready to fight any problems.
Its been raining, which is a welcome relief, and it looks like we are in for a rainy Christmas, rain on Christmas day is our equivalent of snow on Christmas Day. I was almost beginning to fear that the we would be in for a hot dry Christmas with chances of a severe drought but the heavens decided to open up…
Merry Christmas and compliments of the festive season.. Whats happening in your neck of the woods?
~B
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